xviii, 271 p., [12] p. of plates : 25 cm

Overview: In this lively and pathbreaking book, William Monter sketches Europe's increasing acceptance of autonomous female rulers between the late Middle Ages and the French Revolution. Monter surveys the governmental records of Europe's thirty women monarchs-the famous (Mary Stuart, Elizabeth I, Catherine the Great) as well as the obscure (Charlotte of Cyprus, Isabel Clara Eugenia of the Netherlands)-describing how each of them achieved sovereign authority, wielded it, and (more often than men) abandoned it. Monter argues that Europe's female kings, who ruled by divine right, experienced no significant political opposition despite their gender

Includes bibliographical references and index

Early female sovereigns in global perspective -- Europe's female sovereigns, 1300-1800: overview -- Difficult beginnings: heiresses with crowned husbands, 1300-1550 -- Female regents promote female rule, 1500-1630 -- Husbands finessed: era of Elizabeth I, 1550-1700 -- Husbands subordinated: era of Maria Theresa, 1700-1800 -- Ruling without inheriting: Russian empresses -- Female rule after 1800: constitutions and popular culture

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